NASA's Stennis Space Center Marks New Chapter in Space Exploration

Aug. 23, 2007

Melissa Mathews/Beth Dickey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1272/2087
melissa.mathews-1@xxxxxxxx, beth.dickey-1@xxxxxxxx

Paul Foerman
Stennis Space Center, Miss.
228-688-1880
paul.foerman-1@xxxxxxxx

RELEASE: 07-180

NASA'S STENNIS SPACE CENTER MARKS NEW CHAPTER IN SPACE EXPLORATION

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. - NASA's Stennis Space Center broke ground
Thursday for a new rocket engine test stand that will provide
altitude testing for the J-2X engine. The engine will power the upper
stages of NASA's Ares I and Ares V rockets.

NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale was joined by Mississippi Gov.
Haley Barbour, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, U.S. Sen. Trent Lott and U.S.
Rep. Gene Taylor for the landmark occasion. Also participating were
NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Scott Horowitz
and Stennis Center Director Richard Gilbrech, recently named to
succeed Horowitz, who plans to leave NASA in October. Pratt & Whitney
Rocketdyne President Jim Maser took part as well.

"Groundbreakings are about new beginnings," said Dale. "The first
stand was erected at Stennis to test the Saturn V rocket of the
Apollo program. Testing of the space shuttle engines began here in
the mid 1970s. And today, we're breaking ground for a new test stand,
for the new spacecraft of a new era of exploration."

The Ares I and Ares V rockets are being developed as part of NASA's
Constellation Program. Constellation spacecraft will be used to send
astronauts to the International Space Station, return humans to the
moon, and eventually journey to Mars.

"This is our generation's turn, our time to go to the moon," said
Gilbrech. "One of the key steps is building the A-3 test stand. The
J-2X engine has a unique set of test requirements. The best way to
meet them is with the A-3."

The A-3 stand is the first large test stand to be built at Stennis
since it opened in the 1960s. The new test stand will be a
300-foot-tall, open steel frame structure located south of the
existing A-1 test stand. Its 19-acre site in Stennis' A Complex will
include a test control center, propellant barge docks and access
roadways. The test stand will allow engineers to simulate conditions
at different altitudes by generating steam to reduce pressure in the
test cell. Testing on the A-3 stand is scheduled to begin in late
2010.

In November 2006, Stennis' existing A-1 stand was handed over to the
Constellation Program for testing the J-2X engine. Tests on J-2X
components are set to begin later in 2007.

"The engines will be assembled here at Stennis, then subjected to
rigorous, expert testing," Dale said. "After that, those engines and
the rockets they will power will travel to Cape Canaveral. Then the
finished spacecraft will lift off, headed for a new destination and a
new era of exploration."

A graphic of the future A-3 test stand, along with all of the latest
information about NASA's Constellation Program, is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/constellation


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